1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of credit information monitoring and control and, in particular, to a method for monitoring and control of an individual's credit information by use of the Internet.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditionally the typical method for obtaining one's credit information was to send a written request for a credit report to each credit reporting bureau and provide identifying proof of identity which, in most cases, was a utility bill or tax bill. Recently the credit report has been available for purchase online. Once the credit report was obtained and a discrepancy or error was found in the information, the individual had to request investigation of the discrepant or erroneous credit information either through the credit bureau or directly to the offending credit grantor organization, such as a department store or bank. This was a time consuming method. An improvement to this method was to use a credit watch, or credit monitoring organization that would monitor the individual's credit reports on file at a credit bureau. The credit watch organization would send reports to the individual if certain types of information appeared in the credit history. Examples of the type of information that would trigger a report are derogatory items, change of address and whether a third party requested a credit report. While this method provided an up-to-date status of the individual's credit history, the individual was still left with the job of contacting the individual creditor or bank to report errors or discrepancies and to request appropriate investigations.
In applicant's co-pending application Ser. No. 09/846,616 “Card Management System and Method Therefor” filed on May 1, 2001, a credit card management system is disclosed and is herewith incorporated into this application by reference. This invention is a method and system for on-line card management, wherein the card is issued to a card user by a card issuing organization. The card user interfaces with a card management organization via the card user's own computer through the Internet to a computer system within the card management organization. This system is discussed in more detail in the detailed description section because it is incorporated into the subject invention.
Thus, it is a primary object of the invention to provide to provide a method of on-line credit information monitoring and control.
It is another object of the invention to provide an on-line credit information monitoring method that allows an individual to obtain the individual's credit report from the credit reporting bureaus, to challenge any discrepancies or errors in the credit report, and to initiate time and date stamped notifications to affected creditors to request remedial action.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an on-line credit information monitoring method that allows an individual who finds or suspects identity theft to initiate time and date stamped notifications to affected creditors and cognizant government agencies.
It is a further object of the system to provide an on-line credit information monitoring method which allows an individual to access time and date stamped notifications initiated by the individual to affected creditors and government agencies.
Another object of the invention is to provide an on-line credit information monitoring protocol that can determine the hypothetical interest rate that an individual should pay for a specific type of loan based on the individual's credit information.